Had it not been for Speaker Boehner’s epiphany, (Blog: Francis, Religion, Politics and Speaker Boehner), the House of Representatives would have voted for the shutting down of the United States Government unless Planned Parenthood had been defunded. (The fact that the Government does not directly fund PP was not considered relevant to the proceedings.) One of the last times such a drastic shut down for an alleged threat to society was perpetrated was in an effort to halt Obamacare, (ACA), which too was identified as the then worst threat in living memory to America.
Planned Parenthood, (PP), is a not for profit organization that provides over 10 million health care services for 3 million, mainly women, patients a year. The reason for the intended action on PP is that the organization, allegedly, illegally, sells the fetal body parts that they have harvested from legally performed abortions. As a deterrent to this alleged activity the GOP Tea Party faction moved that Government funding for the organization should be shut down forthwith.
What strikes Jay H. Ell is the fact that this issue has become the cause celebre of the Tea Party GOP and a main policy thrust for the 2016 elections.... that and Hillary’s e mails of course.
LAST TIME OUT THEY SHUT THE GOVERNMENT OVER THREAT OF OBAMACARE
The fact that the selfsame naysayers have been proved wrong with Obamacare, (ACA), does not fuzz them. Notwithstanding their prophesies on Obamacare, the number of uninsured Americans has decreased by approximately 15 million citizens as reflected in the decrease of the percentage of uninsured from 18% to 11%. The bureaucratic process of enrolling patients is rolling along smoothly and Pew, Kaiser and other studies show tens of millions of dollar savings to States. One rarely hears anything about the ACA from this crowd anymore as they are concentrating on their newest biggest threat - Planned Parenthood. And they are giving the PP threat a full go with Congress Committee Meetings and the like.
While to date this Republican Tea Party crowd, who set the agenda and define who and what are the greatest threats, have not exactly been spot on, they are heavily into the bogeyman of Planned Parenthood as a delineating winning strategy for the next election. Jay H. Ell has spent much time attempting to clarify what this is all about and the possible outcomes of this tactic.
THE PROBLEM IN A NUTSHELL AS SEEN BY THE PROTAGONISTS OF DEATH TO THE PP.
An anti abortion organization entitled the Center for Medical Programs, (CMP), spent a number of years creating a dummy front organization, Biomax Procurement Services, that ostensibly wished to purchase discarded fetal body parts for research.This organization then spent a large chunk of time ostensibly discussing and negotiating the purchase of such material with the Medical Director of PP recording their discussions. They then produced highly edited videos to which they added damning graphic of the trauma of abortion. They fervently believed that their sting operation would set the world on fire. They alleged that the PP was trading in fetal body parts and their whole operation was to do abortions in such a way as to preserve and sell these body parts. They portrayed PP as venal, illegal and homicidal in order “to set up a black market in body parts”. They called upon Congress to defund the PP.
THE FACTS AS PP SEES THEM
PP deny the CMP interpretations of their own videos maintaining that they were heavily edited and that nowhere is there any evidence that body parts are sold for profit. They add that their activities have been investigated by several law agencies in several States and no wrong doing has ever been found. The only fact that they conceded was that it was inappropriate to have clinical conversations in non confidential public places with individuals who purported to be involved in bona fide activities. They further point out that the harvesting of this tissue for research was made law under Ronald Reagan.
The PP further maintain that just 3% of their services relate to abortion and none of these could be funded by the Federal Government or its agencies as the latter do not pay for abortion services. The moneys paid by the Government agencies to PP are for woman services such as for sexually transmitted diseases treatment and prevention, cancer screening, contraception and other women health issues. The PP bill for the services and are paid from Medicaid and Title X agencies which pay for set services. This amounts to $518 million dollars a year. So the money isn’t a handout or a lump sum grant it is for services rendered. The PP collects a similar amount from other sources and from there the abortions are funded.
So to say that the government funds PP is a gross mischaracterization - The Feds indirectly pays bills, through Federally funded programs, for medical services rendered. The GOP thus wish to fire PP as a Health Care Provider to 3, 000, 000 women because it alleges, without proof that it is acting illegally - an extraordinary action for a crowd that is heavily into deregulation and belief that the market sorts out everything without clumsy intervention from the legislators.
Put another way and taking this argument to its logical conclusion the hospital, health care system or doctor you attend is also funded by the Government as they too bill Medicare, Medicaid and Title X. Some of these health care entities do activities that are considered abortions by these folk such as inserting Intra uterine devices let alone the occasional one that allows its physicians to perform abortions. Should the Committee hold hearings on these health care entities and strip them of “Government funding”? Health care would grind to a halt.
CONGRESSIONAL HEARING
The first of many planned Congressional Meetings was convened by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and they had Ms. Cecile Richards, President of PP, on the stand for 5 hours. She was unruffled by the abuse, talking over of her answers and interruptions to her responses to questions asked. As Republican Congressman John Duncan opined, “Surely you don’t want us to be easier on you because you are a woman”. She was questioned again and again by Republican Representative Jordan as to why she initially apologized for the tone and statements of the original video. She repeated again and again that she believed that the setting for these discussions was wrong - a public place. Jordan refused to accept her reply. She was then challenged, “How much money does the organization makes from abortions”. She was hammered as to her salary which incidentally is on the lower end of CEO salaries for non profit organizations. She remained unfazed and dignified.
THE TONE OF THE HEARING SET BY THE CHAIRMAN
Ms Richards failed to recognize and explain a graph, presented by Chairman Jason Chaffetz. It depicted information that showed, over the most recent period, a percentage increase in abortion activity as compared to other female services. Chaffetz,mercilessly demanded an explanation of the graphic which he claimed was derived from PP data. Finally, Ms. Richards countered that the figures for Chaffetz’s audiovisual came from an anti abortion group not Planned Parenthood. Chaffetz did not bat an eyelid at his grossly misleading presentation. The Chairman’s introductory speech was even more off the charts. He was tearful and appeared to blame Planned Parenthood for his mother’s death. He argued that the money spent on Planned Parenthood, (that is women’s health care), should be spent on cancer research.
The Democratic Congress members countered that this so called investigation was part of the GOP war on women. Congressmen Gerald Connolly said he hoped the American women were watching. The audio and visuals tell it all he argued. Connolly continued that the GOP believed in rugged individualism and personal liberties except when it came to women controlling their own bodies and making their own health decisions.
THE IMPACT OF VIDEOS OUT THERE IN THE WORLD
There is little doubt that the videos were disturbing to anyone who watched them. Nobody likes the idea of abortions including those who support the women’s right to choose. The clinical discussions, particularly on such a sensitive topic such as fetal parts that are crushed or not crushed make even the most sanguine shudder. This particularly so when added ultrasound pictures by the Center for Medical Programs are presented of the abortion procedure…. Most lay people cannot even watch an intra abdominal operation on TV let alone seeing a minuscule bean sized fetus, blown up to fill the screen, being crushed.
In the context of a doctor talking to those who need as perfect a tissue as possible to do research to cure disease the matter of factness is understandable. Remember too that in a way there is nothing in it for PP. All that videotaping over all that time with all that editing could not prove that PP recovered anything but their costs. Signed consent was obtained from the mother before tissue was harvested.
Jay H. Ell worked in a busy South African Hospital when abortions were illegal and scores of women presented every week with incomplete back street abortions that on occasion resulted in sepsis, death and untoward sequela. These were not evil women but desperate and often poor. As a physician he was privy to the desolation and angst they felt when they believed that termination of their pregnancy was their only option. Representative Brenda Lawrence struck a chord when she lamented, “Men have no idea what women go through with health care.” This discussion reminded him of a story his father, an old time general practitioner, told him of a young woman patient who came to see him “for help” which he couldn’t provide. The next day he was called to her home. She was dead. She had poisoned herself.
This whole scam begs the question, if PP stopped its fetal tissue donation program would the Center for Medical Progress and their supporters recognize their right to perform legal abortions? No they wouldn’t. Some of them even extend their opposition to contraception as well. But what should be a sensitive bipartisan debate has been cast as a key wedge issue in an election. This is an issue for respect and empathy from both sides as many opponents of choice have deep religious beliefs in the sanctity of life which they believe starts at the creation of the fertilized egg. Even preventing the egg from being fertilized to some represents abortion.
RESPONSE TO THE GOP CAMPAIGN
The fact that the whole issue of Planned Parenthood’s existence is now a central focus means that the GOP Tea Party, believe that the issue is a vote getter in the upcoming elections. Not one of the Republican Presidential hopefuls has materially disagreed with the strategy and Carly Fiorina has made it the central plank of her campaign. Even milksop Jeb has countered that PP is not essential as other existing facilities could provide the care. (Jeb has lost it. Has he given a second’s thought at the infrastructure needed to provide 10,000,000 services a year, at Medicaid rates and for free. This in a health care system that is woefully short of Primary Care providers and Obstetricians and Gynecologists, many of whom who won’t even accept low paying Medicaid patients.)
Now the GOP would not be giving it this priority on principle as they have bigger fiscal principles which they ignore because of lack of public support. They do not recognize Social Security or Medicare as sound GOP financial doctrine at all and would substitute these “entitlements” for self managed pension plans and tax credits or whatever in a heartbeat. But no-one attacks these cardinal pillars in campaigns anymore because society would reject the attacks out of hand. So how does society feel about this sustained attack on PP which has been spearheaded with blood dripping forceps, and crushed fetal heads?
Society is largely unmoved. The backing of Planned Parenthood is favored by 2 to 1 in the most recent poll conducted by USA Today. An even bigger majority were against shutting off the Government as a result of this issue - 73% - 19%. If the Government did get shut down the same poll would blame the GOP - 4 to 1- rather than Obama or the Democrats for “funding” PP. These results are indicative of previous samplings of the body politic and if anything show a hardening against Republican attempts to make this their key issue. And remember there are more and more Congressional hearings scheduled.
Representative Steve King (R -Iowa) cannot comprehend why the electorate has not responded to this barrage of gory revelations that have been non stop for the past two months. The GOP has used female spokespersons, to no avail, in this drive to “defund’ PP. Carly Fiorina has doubled down on her assertion of what she saw on the Center for Medical Progress’s video and was virtually called a liar on the influential “Meet the Press” program.
While this campaign rallies the hard core base it makes the GOP chances of winning the Presidency even more remote than they already are. Boehner resigned because he finally had enough of it but the new retreaded Tea Party GOP are determined to go like lemmings to the ocean.
It is interesting to note the Democratic National Committee used this attack on PP as a spur to its fundraising drive ending at the end of September. They noted that the “Republican sexist rampage” turned the last day of the quarter’s campaign into a record fundraising day. Also they broadcast that this anti woman GOP assault on Planned Parenthood had backfired and helped them receive a million grassroots donations that quarter.
AT THE END OF THE DAY
If they carry on like this the GOP will be hard put to retain the Senate let alone win back the Presidency. Remember you heard it here first!
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